Government leases prime police land in 50-year deal

The government yesterday refuted claims that it had sold the
24-acre Oysterbay police area in Kinondoni District to a private
investor.

Instead, it said the land has been leased to the investor for a 426.6bn/-($270 million) project aimed at developing the area for the
good of the Police Force and the nation at large.

The project is expected to
begin in June, next year, after the signing of the contract.

According to the ministry of Home Affairs, the area has been
leased for 50 years and the investor would build shopping malls, a modern
hospital, a conference hall, hotel, office, residential houses and parking
slots.

In a statement read by the ministry’s spokesperson, Mr Isaac
Nantanga, the government said it had initiated the project due to the ever
increasing demand for residential houses for police officers.

Mr Nantanga said the government was in need of about 34,710
houses for police officers countrywide. However, he said the investment for the
project, apart from its diverse usage after completion, aims at getting money
to build more housing units for the law enforcers.

Moreover, the investor will have to construct
new residential houses for Oysterbay police officers at Mikocheni (20 units) and
Kunduchi (330 units). A modern police office will also be built at the current
Oysterbay police area.

“The ministry did a cost-benefit analysis to determine
whether the project would bear fruit…we are glad that the findings were
positive,” Mr Nantanga said.

“Of the total cost, Sh395 billion will be used in
constructing commercial buildings while Sh31.6 billion will be used to
construct residential houses and a modern police station at Oysterbay,” he
said.

He said the University of Dar es Salaam’s Bureau for
Industrial Cooperation (BICO) was appointed as the lead consultant due to its
experience in such projects as it was the one which engineered the completion
of the Mlimani City project. According to him, international tendering process
was advertised in November last year whereby 10 companies applied for the
project.

After a thorough competitive process, according to the
spokesperson, Uganda’s Mara Capital Group Ltd was appointed as the developer
and a contract was signed on June 23, this year.

Mr Nantanga, however, insisted that the area will remain
property of the government and the properties belonging to the ministry while
the investor will remain as a tenant.

He noted that the investor has agreed to pay an annual land
use fee of Sh4.36 billion after the commencement of the project and that the
fee would be changing depending on economic circumstances.

“The agreement is
that the project would start in June next year after the signing of a
contract,” said the official.He said the government expects to increase
employment opportunities through the project and that the Police Force would
earn money for other development activities.

“The construction of a modern police post would help the
force serve the citizenry better and the government would get more revenue from
business activities at the area,” he added.